Email from Paramount/Dreamworks

[Ark2]

So I got an email from Paramount/Dreamworks this morning saying that I was infringing on copyright material. In the email it asked me to take steps to stop this infringement. It also gave me a link to follow where they wanted me to explain what steps I took to stop the infringement.

Anyone else ever get one of these emails? Is it real? What kind of implications does it have? Any advice is appreciated.

[Ark2]

Haha... Sorry guys... I was reading fire on ice when I got this email and then forgot what sub-forum I was in. Thanks to whomever the moderator was for moving it so quickly

[Russic]

I know a guy who got one of these (hey look at that, for once I used that phrase not referring to myself), only I believe it was from Shaw. It was basically a note saying "we know what you did, and we can't really do anything about it, but stop it". Unless I'm mistaken I believe these are generally just scare tactics.

[CaptainCrunch]

I remember reading this in the paper a couple of weeks ago, it sounded Legit, if you've been using bit torrent to download movies.

I think that Paramount is working with ISP to find out who's downloading torrents of their movies.

sounds like they've softened their approach though, I think originally they were demanding payment so you could avoid the courts.

[CaptainCrunch]

http://www.geeksugar.com/Movie-Studi...viders-1502467

[Frank MetaMusil]

Time to switch to private trackers man.

[La Flames Fan]

....or buy the friggin' thing? I get the theory (sometimes) behind people wanting to pirate movies, but I sure don't most of the time.

It reminds me of the Red vs. Blue skit...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRnoU...tailpage#t=94s

[pylon]

Originally Posted by La Flames Fan

....or buy the friggin' thing? I get the theory (sometimes) behind people wanting to pirate movies, but I sure don't most of the time.

I don't get it one bit, at all. Another by product of our system of entitlement. Some people think the magic movie fairy, swaps down with tens of millions of dollars to make movies, so the end viewer can watch a copy recorded on a Beta handycam in a Malaysian theatre, with German subtitles. I wish they would actually follow through, and sue the crap out of the thieves, and the people that download and redistribute their product. If you're so frikkin poor, you cannot afford the 4 bucks to rent it on VOD or pay the 8 dollars a month for a Netflix account, maybe you should be looking at getting a second job, instead of wasting your life away, watching pirated media.

Even people with a ton of money do it. I have a buddy who lives large, that has terabytes of pirated media. He watches these crappy reproductions on a 65" TV, with a B & O sound system, thinking it is all awesome. He had a house party a while back, showing off his totally rad setup, and everyone was laughing at the totally shat version of Rambo he plugged in. It wasn't even square in the screen, and the sound was mono. It looked like it was in 480 to. He got all butthurt about it, and pulled the "Only suckers pay." line. $6000 worth of gear, watching a free pirate version, that was downloaded with some sort of trojan malware selling your info to a Russian fisting site or something.

I will wait for the people that are going to swoop in and defend the practice like the counterfeit jersey brigade.

[La Flames Fan]

Good one pylon...

I find my sympathy still lies with the fact how much extra crap is on a...DVD let's say. The MPAA and RIAA are, truly, #######s. STILL it doesn't warrant pirating in my mind. Plus the digital age with iTunes, VOD etc., makes it incredibly easy to get movies/music/software.

To those who pirate, do what you want, I don't care...but don't complain if there are ramifications.

[Yasa]

I stopped pirating full movies. I stick to TV shows. I figure if I pay for cable and have access to these shows, then I don't mind downloading them,

[cKy]

Originally Posted by Russic

I know a guy who got one of these (hey look at that, for once I used that phrase not referring to myself), only I believe it was from Shaw. It was basically a note saying "we know what you did, and we can't really do anything about it, but stop it". Unless I'm mistaken I believe these are generally just scare tactics.

I got an email from Shaw once saying Fox sent a complaint about me downloading X-Men cartoons (before they were available on DVD). Nothing ever transpired from it and it didnt affect the way I downloaded. I thought it would be funny as hell if i got busted for piracy for a bloody X-Men cartoon instead of the other expensive stuff i have pillaged.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Yasa

I stopped pirating full movies. I stick to TV shows. I figure if I pay for cable and have access to these shows, then I don't mind downloading them,

I can sorta get that. I will on occasion pick up an "unofficial" streamed Flames game feed if I am working during the game. But, I also am paying for a cable package that entitles me to watch it. I guess a slingbox would solve that problem, and make a better quality feed, and that is on my boxing day shopping list.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by pylon

I don't get it one bit, at all.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, take a media server for example. Currently I own legit, purchased from HMV, seasons 1-3 of Castle. They made the 2nd season virtually impossible to rip, which gives me no way to watch it in XBMC along with the other seasons, unless I use the disc itself to watch.

The lack of format transferability RGMG.

[Ark2]

Originally Posted by pylon

I will wait for the people that are going to swoop in and defend the practice like the counterfeit jersey brigade.

Obviously I download pirated material (not that crap your friend does though, high quality HD versions are incredible easy to find, so I'm not sure what he was doing). I won't defend my actions though. If I get busted for it, then I will face the consequences. My intention of starting this thread was just to get some more information on this email that I was sent. I've found from talking to friends of mine that it is quite common, and as of yet, nothing has amounted from it. I have one friend that has received 4 of these emails in the past year, so who knows if there are any actual teeth behind it. I appreciate everyone's responses.

[Ark2]

Originally Posted by pylon

I can sorta get that. I will on occasion pick up an "unofficial" streamed Flames game feed if I am working during the game. But, I also am paying for a cable package that entitles me to watch it. I guess a slingbox would solve that problem, and make a better quality feed, and that is on my boxing day shopping list.

So you do it as well then... interesting. Viewing pirated material is viewing pirated material. Rationalizations amount to nothing. There have been instances where I have purchased a physical music CD and later wanted to rip it to my computer so I could transfer it to my MP3 player. However, the CD that I purchased was in my car and I was too lazy to go out to the garage and get it. Instead, I torrented a copy of the exact same CD that I had purchased and within minutes transferred it to my MP3 player. It may not seem like I did anything wrong, but in the eyes of the law, I still downloaded pirated, copyright material. You can't condemn it in one post and then justify it in another. That is just being a hypocrite.

[pylon]

I get that it is impossible to view certain things without infringing on something. Heck, half of youtube shouldn't be there, and is costing an end producer of the material something. I don't know how many times I have watched Rambo blow away that guy in the front seat of the jeep with the .50 cal on youtube to get a quick fix.

However, there are people that exclusively view pirated material. "Hey man, wanna go to see 'x' movie, that came out in the theatre 2 days ago?"

"No, already watched i on my computer. Who pays to see a movie?"

Those are the people I am talking about.

[MaDMaN_26]

I don't really want to get into the debate as I do what I want to do, and I don't really care who agrees or dis-agrees.

For example if a person payed for Netflix but used http://www.strongvpn.com/compare.shtml and a router with a firmware upgrade http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index (so the router supports Open VPN) to have an American netflix account because Canadian laws are antiquated and quite stupid. If a person was to do that I say all the power to them.. but that is IMHO.

That said I would suggest people that would like more privacy check out the following links and do some reading...

www.peerblock.com
www.iblocklist.com

[Ozy_Flame]

How can Paramount demand you write them a progress report? That's the authorities job, not theirs. You owe them nothing except to discontinue your activities, which certainly doesn't require a homework assignment.

That's like Impark demanding you pay a ticket rather than the police or parking authority.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I think that Paramount is working with ISP to find out who's downloading torrents of their movies.

If true, I wonder what kind other information Shaw would be sharing with other companies?

[pylon]

I can see the big studios planting pirated copies of older films, and putting in some sort of tracking software or something to trace where it is being downloaded. A Trojan horse of sorts.

Maybe they already do this, I am not up to speed on how piracy works, but it would seem to be a smart way to at least figure out, who is down loading what.